Search the Community

Sometimes the key features about venturing across the ocean are the items. Another being the game progression. I want it to be challenging to get to endgame status, and not just a 20 minute adventure. Here are some of my ideas on how the game could be more challenging, aswell as some cool Item Ideas. 1> Higher Island Levels The max island level is 3, a total increase in difficulty compared to level 1 or 2, but even then it's too easy to overcome. Once the player has access to firearms and ammo, not even the strongest of foes stand in their way, and guns and ammo can be achieved relatively quickly. So one of my fixes for this is to add higher level Islands. I want to fear the islands I visit, and not to step foot on a level 3 island expecting another vacation. 2> Items There is an absolute mass of items in the game, ranging from steam-punky guns and armor to French Fries. If harder level island are a possibility, then stronger armor and weapons should certainly be aswell. Most people would suggest adding more armor and weapon Items, which I totally agree with, but another way of doing things could be upgrading armor and weapons one way or another. Some people want to empower their armor and weapons, rather than swap them out. How can an Ylander keep their classiness if they have to swap it constantly? In order to keep people from generating game-breakingly strong armor and weapons, perhaps you may add limitations to how many time they can be upgraded? Another concept would be specialized items that can buff the player, much like a potion, apon use. Maybe magical items and magic could finally be a thing? This was a really short and low-quality one. It's literally 1am and I'm bogging down. My personal favorite here is the higher level Islands rather than the cool Item concepts, 'cause I need something to test my Thick Toms on. Also, I'd like a more challenging expedition.

Islands are proabably the main focus, being the majority of a player's adventure, therefore they should definitely be improved. I'm no saying islands aren't already great, I'm saying that they could always do with a little more to improve their experience. This list covers a few of my thoughts and Ideas on what Ideas could be like. 1> Mountains Mountains are high, but they're dry. The only thing Mountains are good for are being a lookout and occasionally having resource deposits on them. With bigger island coming, I feel that Mountains should become much taller, steeper, and more yielding. Incase you couldn't tell from my previous posts, I love a good challenge, so I suggest that mountains be an absolute pain to climb, large boulders constantly blocking the path up the ruthless cliffs. As should be, there are rewards for climbing these mountains. Perhaps a small cave entrance towards the top? Maybe the entire mountain could be hollowed out with small caves snaking all throughout it? These caves would have strong enemies and rare treasures littered throughout, and not just the occasional coal pocket. 2> The Surface The surface is a fine place with hills, valleys, and plenty of random encounters to explore, but it could do with a little bit more. Animals seem to run aimlessly, not really coordinating at all. It'd be nice to see actual herds of deer run by, or herds of rhinos trample over me as I'm pleading at the game to return the stuff I lost the last 3 times I died to the same herd. Another thing would be better random encounters. Attain point, I've pretty much seen them all, and some of them are quite rewarding and interesting, but they almost don't seem like enough. The random encounters are also incredibly random, making no sense at all most of the time, so why not have something like a town occasionally lying about? The town could be filled with NPCs milling about, some of them merchants that the player can trade with. The towns would be themed depending on the biome it spawns in. Another is the overall terrain and landscape. Every island has it pretty much the same, having plains, hills, and mountains. What about revines and ditches? How about rocky spires and small plateaus? Another thing would be better vegetation and smaller details such as more grass, rocks, or smaller animals roaming about. Maybe you could even add tarantulas to the tropical rainforests! 3> Caves Caves are great, yielding several different essential resources and metals, aswell as providing the player with a maze filled with difficult enemies, however, the cave isn't much of a maze, and the enemies are a breeze. If making the cave more of a maze isn't possible, nor making the enemies more difficult, then perhaps make the caves more hollering by adding other obstacles such as deadly traps and puzzles. Perhaps you could reward the player for getting past all of the traps and puzzles by having treasure rooms and vaults be located down in the caves. I'd imagine these rooms would be similar to the large crystal rooms, only piled with treasure! Those were some of my Ideas for an improved island-based experience. I like writing these for the fun of it, expecting little content to actually make it, but that's ok. This is your game, not mine.

The general merchants in the game are excellent, providing me with essential items for reasonable prices, but I feel like the NPCs could due with an update. This post will cover what I imagine the NPCs should be like. 1> Missions NPC Currently, we have 2 very basic NPC Types. The Merchant, and the Enemy, which I'm totally fine with, but I think adding a new one would be incredibly nice. It's pretty much a general rule at this point for every adventure game to have a missions giver NPC that rewards the player one way or another. I'd imagine the mission-giving NPC for Ylands would give the player an array of achievements to complete in exchange for money or rare items (depending on difficulty of mission). 2> Tiered Merchants Merchants already sell decent suplies and whatnot, but there comes a time when you've mined an unfathomable abount of gold and wish to buy something actually worth it all. My first thought on this was to have the NPC merchants have tiers or levels. Depending on their tier or level, the merchants will sell more expensive and higher-quallity items. 3> Perchasing Items One problem I've had with trading is that I'd have to manually get the gold out of the gold pouch in order to pay for my items. I would like to see that someday, the gold pouch would automatically cover the required payment aslong as there's gold in it. 4> Merchant Customization The ability to select the type of merchant you summon is great, but they seem to spawn with just about anything slapped on. I'd like to be able to customize my merchants to my liking (assuming I have enough materials to do so), being able to dress them, change their gender, skin tone, face, etc. Just a few Ideas on the NPCs of the game. I'd like to see Ylands take a turn for the best, and through my eyes, that's making it more Immersive. Constantly adding difficulty to the game, and at the same time, giving the player more freedom to do as they want is definitely the way to go.

The Ocean is a vast and visually appealing part of Ylands, being pretty much the only way to get around. The ocean is deep and mysterious, darkening as you descend further and further down to pick up that one oyster to fry up on your ylandium stove for dinner. Sometimes, the ocean isn't deep enough, and sometimes it isn't mysterious enough. Heck, it isn't even that dangerous! I suggest to you Ylands Team, that you atleast glance apon my list of ideas. 1> Dangers As we all know, the ocean in Ylands will most likely never kill you, even with sharks involved. You're more likely to die to fall damage when turbo dismounting from your crow's nest at high speed. My first idea is add more threats. Atleast add more shark variants. But what I really want to see are different fauna, other than sharks, such a eels are barracudas. Maybe even the octopus or squid that I'm sure everyone's screaming about. The octopus and squid would hinder your vision if they decide to ink the waters, maybe even being able to attack your ship. Perhaps more dangers could consist of fire coral or other things alike Listen, I want to fear the ocean! I want my guts to knot up inside me as I contemplate whether or not it is worth it to dive down for treasure! I want to look at the ocean as the monster that keeps me up at night, not the lullaby that puts me to sleep! 2> Encounters I've seen some pretty good encounters in my life of diving in Ylands, but after a few, they just seem to repeat. The same old tail-end of a plane wreck filled with oysters and ylandium lanterns, you know? Also, if the waters are a much bigger threat by this point, I'd expect that the new encounters are worth the risk. The first though that comes to mind is something like a shipwreck that much like in minecraft, yields some sort of map or clue to a hidden treasure elsewhere. Other encounters may even be the lurking area of a massive kraken or megalodon that yields valuable treasure when defeated. Maybe other encounters could strieght up give you treasure for free, or so you'd think. Thinking about the Pirates of the Caribbean, how about a certain treasure that de-buffs the player when it's collected, slowing them, reducing their defense, etc. I want to dive into this pitch-black void expecting great rewards for conquring every odd against me, not to collect another pair of denim pants from the tail of a plane! 3> Sub-Aquatic Environment So far, the bottom of the ocean is flat and drab. Even if I don't find an encounter, I still want some sort of reward. How about better sub-aquatic terrain? Sure, glowy bits and bobs are cool and all, but they are nothing without terrain! I want to see massive pillars, sea caves, and trenches. Craters perhaps? Vegetation plays a big role in the beauty of the ocean too. Seaweed isn't something to toss about the room randomly, rather, make organized pockets. Maybe in the deeper parts of the ocean, such as caves and trenches, there could be bioluminescent plants that emit light? Maybe some of the plants can emit warmth, cause even with warm stuff on I still struggle with freezing temperatures. Other details may spruce up the environment greatly, especially collectable items that give people a reason to swim around. I also suggest giant clams, coral, sea-anemones, and more fish particle effects. When I swim in the ocean, I want to see it full of life and wonders, and not a vast flat and sandy waste with the occasional sea-urchin and oyster! 4> Fishing I know I've certainly covered fishing in the past, but It's something I'd definitely love to get into some time. Fishing should be more worthwhile, yielding rare items and more fish variants, rather than the basic fish item. Perhaps there can be specialized fishing zones, market by the fish particle effect, that enhance the yield of fishing? I'd love to see that someday I'll be fishing off the bow of my ship, only to see that the bait on my line had attracted a large predator. Listen, if fishing is going to become better and more yielding, then it should also have its consequences. Fishing could wear down your rod overtime, or even attract any sharks or enemies that happen to be nearby. Maybe fishing could yield complete and utter garbage at chances. When I fish, I want it to be a sport, not a hand me. I want to experience fishing like a hurricane, not a light breeze! 5> Surface Environment Sometimes, what's beneath the tides isn't it all. There's still one particular location that seems incredibly devoid of decoration, that being the surface. Sure, Islands occupy the surface, but that is only the bigger picture. I want the smaller details. I'd heard talk of NPC enemy ships being a possibility, so what about friendly NPC ships? How about the occasional sea merchant that sometimes sails through, dropping anchor while the player is close to trade? The sea merchants would sell various items depending on the trader. The sea merchants will spawn at the edge of a map, and de-spawn when it sails to another. They would be marked on the map to make locating one easier. One other surface-related idea would be random clusters of floating barrels. Thinking of Sea of Thieves, it's enjoyable to hop out of the ship in order to loot food, planks, and cannonballs from these. He barrels would have resources in them. I wouldn't know what since the surface is practically considered the safe zone of the ocean, so I'd imagine the look would be somewhat low-grade. When I explore the surface of the ocean, I want an adventure, and not some traveling montage! Those were a few of my thoughts and ideas for the ocean of Ylands. Again, I love this game, and would love to see more of its ocean's. Stay classy Ylanders.